An approach has been made known by DE 91 13 549.4 where spring latches are formed in the upper side sections of the narrow side walls or end walls of a collapsible container. They each comprise a spring tongue that projects into the container to retains the adjacent longitudinal walls in their raised positions. In response to pressure from within, the spring tongues can be pressed outward from their latched position, thereby allowing the longitudinal walls to be folded in onto the floor. Particularly in response to frequent actuation, however, the flexible snap-in latching connection results in breakage, or damage that precludes their use, of the spring latch or snap-in connection. If this happens, the known solution is a replacement spring latch that is inserted into the opening left by the spring latch.
In order to avoid the above-described disadvantages, an approach is known from DE 101 37 328 [U.S. Pat. No. 7,011,225] where a hand-actuatable, one-piece bracket-like handle is provided on each of the outer walls of the end walls, its free ends being provided with latching tabs that interact with latching hooks of the adjacent longitudinal walls. When the latching tabs are engaged with the latching hooks, the container walls are latched in the raised position. When the walls are to be collapsed, the bracket-like handle prestressed by spring tabs is lifted by an upward motion parallel to the end wall. Simultaneous with this action, the latching tabs opposite the latching hooks are lifted upward and the container walls are unlatched. The container walls can then be folded inward.
The disadvantage here, however, is that the container can no longer be latched if the actuating mechanism is damaged, for example if the spring tabs are broken.